4501:1-6-01
Terms and provisions governing contracts between the registrar and deputy registrars.

(A)
The
registrar of motor vehicles, with the approval of the director of public
safety, shall prescribe the terms and conditions for contracts between the
registrar and the deputy registrars. The contract shall require the deputy
registrar to comply with all applicable requirements of the Revised Code, the
Administrative Code, and the contract. The contract may, at the registrar's
discretion, incorporate by reference the terms of the request for proposals and
the proposal.

(B)
Each deputy
registrar shall give and maintain during the period of the contract a bond in
the amount of at least twenty-five thousand dollars, or in such higher amount
as the registrar determines necessary, based on a uniform schedule of bond
amounts prescribed by the registrar and determined by the estimated volume of
transactions handled by the deputy. The bond required of deputy registrars may,
at the discretion of the registrar, be individual or schedule bonds or may be
included in any blanket bond coverage carried by the department. The bond shall
name "The State of Ohio, Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Motor Vehicles"
as the bondholder and shall stipulate that the registrar be notified in the
event of nonpayment of the premium or cancellation before the expiration of the
bond. Notification shall be within the timeframe and in the manner determined
by the registrar. The bond shall be sufficient to protect the funds and assets
of the state of Ohio from losses due to fraud, theft, embezzlement and other
improprieties.

(C)
The
registrar, with the approval of the director, may prescribe a liquidated
damages clause to be included in the deputy registrar contract to compensate
the department of public safety and the bureau of motor vehicles for damages
incurred as a result of failure of performance by the deputy registrar. Any
liquidated damages clause prescribed by the registrar shall set forth the
conditions which may constitute default, shall require that written notice of
default be made to the deputy registrar, and shall give the deputy registrar
reasonable time, not less than seventy-two hours, to cure the default. If the
default is not cured within the time prescribed by the registrar, the registrar
may require the liquidated damages to be paid or may, in the registrar's
discretion, grant an extension of time to cure the default. The registrar, with
the approval of the director, shall specify in the contract the amount of the
liquidated damages, which shall not exceed fifty dollars per terminal per day.
The amount specified shall be liquidated damages, and not a penalty, for
failure of performance by the deputy registrar. The liquidated damages clause
shall be in addition to any other clauses contained in the deputy registrar
contract and neither the use nor the waiver of the liquidated damages clause
shall constitute a waiver of any other term of the contract by the
registrar.

(D)
The registrar
may designate the location of each deputy registrar
agency either at a specific site or within specific boundries.

(E)
The registrar shall prescribe the size of
each deputy registrar office based on the estimated number of transactions and
the number of terminals for that agency and such other factors as determined by
the registrar.

(F)
The registrar
shall lease the equipment necessary to conduct the vision screenings required
under section 4507.12 of the Revised Code to
the deputy registrar at the cost of ten cents per vision screening conducted by
the deputy registrar. The deputy registrar shall transmit these amounts to the
registrar by depositing them in the depository account not more than one
business day after their collection.

(G)
The registrar shall prescribe training
requirements for deputy registrars and deputy registrar employees, and the
deputy registrars and deputy registrar employees shall participate in training
programs as prescribed by the registrar.

(H)
Each deputy registrar shall be permitted
and encouraged to inform the public of the location of the agency and the hours
of operation. A deputy registrar may, with the prior written approval of the
registrar, advertise in regard to the operation of the deputy registrar agency.
No advertisement shall contain any material which in the opinion of the
registrar reflects negatively upon the state of Ohio, the department of public
safety, the bureau of motor vehicles, any deputy registrar, or any deputy
registrar agency. The registrar may prohibit or otherwise regulate any
advertisement which in the registrar's opinion contains any such negative
material, and may take any appropriate remedial action. No person shall
advertise as a deputy registrar unless that person is at the time of the
advertisement acting as a deputy registrar upon appointment of and under
contract with the registrar. Any deputy registrar whose contract expires or is
terminated for any reason shall take reasonable measures to remove any deputy
registrar advertisement or listing of any nature whatsoever for that deputy
registrar agency.

(I)
The registrar
may prescribe requirements for signs to be displayed by the deputy registrar
both outside and within the deputy registrar agency and the deputy registrar
shall conform thereto. The registrar shall modify sign specifications for any
deputy registrar to the extent necessary to conform to applicable zoning laws.
Upon termination or expiration of any deputy registrar contract the deputy
registrar shall immediately remove all signs and indicia identifying the deputy
registrar agency.

(J)
The registrar
shall prescribe the hours that deputy registrar offices be open to the public,
which hours shall conform to at least the minimum requirements set forth in
division (D) of section
4503.03 of the Revised Code.
Each deputy registrar shall submit to the registrar for approval the hours of
operation of that agency. Where there are two or more deputy registrars in a
county and they agree upon weekend and evening hours of operation, their
agreement shall be submitted to the registrar for approval. This rule does not
prohibit the registrar from requiring hours of operation different from ones
selected by the deputy registrar.

(K)
Every deputy registrar in each county,
upon request, shall provide any person with information about the location and
office hours of all deputy registrars in that county and each adjoining county.
This information will be supplied by the bureau of motor vehicles to each
deputy registrar for dissemination.

(L)
No person except the registrar shall
operate or control, directly or indirectly, more than one deputy registrar
agency at any time except when the registrar determines that it is
practical and beneficial to award contracts to a deputy registrar to operate
more than one deputy registrar agency at specific locations designated by the
registrar. No spouse of a deputy registrar shall be appointed as a deputy
registrar or operate a deputy registrar agency. No parent, child, brother, or
sister of a deputy registrar shall be appointed as a deputy registrar or
operate a deputy registrar agency if they are living in the same household as
the deputy registrar. This paragraph does not prohibit any member of a deputy
registrar's family from serving as an employee of any deputy
registrar.

(M)
No employee of the
state of Ohio shall be appointed as a deputy registrar. No spouse, parent,
child, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law,
sister-in-law, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law of any employee of the department
of public safety, the bureau of motor vehicles, or the state highway patrol
shall be appointed as a deputy registrar or operate a deputy registrar agency.
The registrar, with the approval of the director, may waive this provision for
any family member of an employee if that family member has since January 1,
1992 continuously served as a deputy registrar or if the family member became
so employed after the deputy registrar was first appointed as deputy registrar.
This paragraph does not prohibit any member of an employee's family from
serving as an employee of any deputy registrar and does not apply to county
auditors or clerk of courts.

(N)
Deputy registrars are independent
contractors and neither they nor their employees are employees of this state,
except that nothing in this rule shall affect the status of county auditors or
clerks of courts as public officials, nor the status of their employees as
employees of any of the counties of this state which are political subdivisions
of this state.

(O)
Each deputy
registrar shall comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws in
the conduct of the deputy registrar agency. Each deputy registrar shall obtain
a vendor's license, shall collect Ohio sales taxes on nonexempt transactions as
required by law, and shall be responsible for the payment of all unemployment
compensation payments, all workers' compensation payments, all social security
contributions and deductions, and any and all other taxes or payroll deductions
for which the deputy registrar is legally responsible. Each deputy registrar
shall comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws requiring the
withholding of income taxes or other taxes from the compensation of
the
deputy registrar's employees.

(P)
Each deputy registrar shall have adequate
staffing and equipment to handle the volume of business including adequate
provisions to handle any peak periods of activity. The registrar may prescribe
reasonable minimum staffing requirements and each deputy registrar shall comply
with those requirements. The registrar may prohibit the employment by any
deputy registrar of any person who within the past ten years has been convicted
of a crime punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year or a crime
involving dishonesty or false statement.

(Q)
Each deputy registrar shall appoint a
full-time office manager to be responsible for the management of the agency.
The deputy registrar may designate himself or herself to serve as the office
manager or may appoint another employee to do so. The office manager shall be
regularly scheduled and on duty at the deputy registrar agency at least
thirty-six hours per week during regular business hours except for temporary
periods of vacation, sickness or holidays. The registrar may require that the
deputy registrar, except a county auditor or a clerk of court, shall be
regularly scheduled and on duty at the deputy registrar agency at least twenty
hours per week during regular business hours except for temporary periods of
vacation or sickness. The deputy registrar shall also designate an employee to
supervise the agency during all periods when both the office manager and the
deputy registrar are absent.

(R)
The registrar shall prescribe and each deputy registrar shall conform to
requirements for buildings and facilities, staffing, parking,
disability accessibility, heating, ventilation, air
conditioning, lighting, security, signs, bank accounts, reports, record keeping
and retention, voter registration, organ donation documentation, employee
training, and any other requirements that the registrar deems necessary or
proper for the efficient operation of the deputy registrar agency.

(S)
The registrar may prohibit solicitations
of any kind by the deputy registrars or their employees. The registrar may
require that there be direct access to the deputy registrar facility and may
prohibit the operation of any other business or activity in conjunction with
the operation of the deputy registrar agency. The provisions of this paragraph
do not apply to county auditors or clerks of courts.

(T)
Each deputy registrar shall perform in an
efficient and professional manner all services on behalf of the registrar
including but not limited to the issuance of drivers' licenses, identification
cards, vehicle registration plates or stickers, thirty-day temporary tags, and
vehicle registration and driver record abstracts; physical inspection of motor
vehicles as required by section
4505.061 of the Revised Code;
administering vision screenings; offering the public the option of listing
organ donor preferences; voter registration and any other services the
registrar is required or chooses to offer to the public.

(U)
The registrar shall, with the approval of
the director, terminate the contract and immediately remove a deputy who
violates any provision of the Revised Code related to the deputy's duties any
rule adopted by the registrar, or any term of the contract with the registrar.
The registrar may also remove a deputy who, in the opinion of the registrar,
has engaged in any conduct that is either unbecoming to one representing this
state or is inconsistent with the efficient operation of the deputy's office.

(V)
Any deputy registrar who wishes to
unilaterally terminate his or her contract shall give written notice to the
registrar at least ninety days prior to said termination. No deputy registrar
shall cease to conduct the business of deputy registrar until ninety days have
elapsed since the written notice has been received by the registrar, unless the
registrar gives written approval of earlier termination.

(W)
In the event the registrar should cancel
any deputy registrar contract without a breach of condition, the registrar
shall give written notice of cancellation at least ninety days prior to the
effective date of said cancellation.

(X)
No deputy registrar shall change the
deputy registrar's office telephone number or banking facility without the
prior written consent of the registrar. No deputy registrar shall change or
move the deputy registrar agency to any other site without the prior written
consent of the registrar. The registrar may withhold approval if the registrar
determines that the proposed facility is not as well suited for a deputy
registrar office as the existing facility.

(Y)
Neither the registrar nor any person
shall terminate a deputy registrar contract awarded to a person, or threaten to
do so, because that person fails to pay an assessment or subscription to, or
fails to make contribution to, any political party, the governor or
the
governor's campaign committee, or any candidate for public office or
the
candidate's campaign committee.

(Z)
The contract between the registrar and
the deputy registrar may contain any provisions the registrar deems necessary
or proper to assure that the provisions of the Revised Code and the
Administrative Code are adhered to and that the deputy registrar provides
proper and efficient service to the state of Ohio, the department of public
safety, the bureau of motor vehicles, and the citizens of Ohio.

(AA)
The deputy registrar contract may be
amended at any time to the extent it is necessary to conform to any applicable
federal or state law or any rule adopted by the registrar or director in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

(BB)
Unless otherwise terminated and except
for interim contracts lasting not longer than one year contracts
with deputy registrars shall be
entered into through a competitive selection process
and shall be limited in duration as follows:

(1)
For contracts
entered into between July 1, 1996 and June 29, 2014, for a period of not less
than two years but not more than three years.

(2)
For contracts
entered into on or after June 29, 2014, for a period of five years, unless the
registrar determines that a shorter contract term is appropriate for a
particular deputy registrar.

(3)
All contracts
with deputy registrars shall expire on the last Saturday of June in the year of
their expiration.

(4)
Prior to the expiration of any deputy registrar
contract, the registrar, with the approval of the director, may award a
one-year contract extension to any deputy reghistrar who has provided exemplary
serve based upon objective performance evaluations.

(CC)
Each deputy registrar shall maintain
during the entire term of the deputy registrar contract a policy of
business liability, property damage, and theft insurance satisfactory to the
registrar and shall hold the department of public safety, the director of
public safety, the bureau of motor vehicles, and the registrar harmless upon
any and all claims for damages or losses arising out of the operation of the
deputy registrar agency. County auditors and clerks of
court may be self-insured through their county government and are exempt from
the hold harmless provision.

(DD)
Each individual deputy registrar shall
occupy a
primary residence in a location that is within a one-hour commute time from the
deputy registrar's agency or agencies, during the term of the contract.
The registrar shall determine the commute time by using
multiple established internet-based mapping services. If the deputy
registrar is a nonprofit corporation, it shall maintain a place of business
within the county in which each of its
agencies is located. The registrar may, after notice,
terminate the contract of any deputy registrar who violates this
provision.

(EE)
Unless otherwise
prohibited by statute, the registrar may waive any contract provisions in this
rule for clerks of courts or county auditors, or both.